Gibson’s 27 not enough as Cougars fall at nationally ranked Coffeyville

For the first eleven minutes of Saturday night's clash with No. 15 ranked Coffeyville Community College, the Barton Community College men's basketball team seemed prime to upset the Red Ravens on their home floor.  Coffeyville had other plans closing out the last nine minutes on a 24-11 run to lead 39-27 at the break.  Raheem Johnson's eight points keyed an 8-2 Cougar run to open the second half to cut the deficit to six, before the Red Ravens' 17-9 run stretched the lead to fourteen with ten to play.  Back-to-back treys from Darius Gibson and Isaac Williams cut the deficit to five with a little over two minutes to play but Coffeyville sunk 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch for the victory.  Barton drops to 4-1 on the season while Coffeyville improves to 4-0.  The Cougars will hit the road again on Wednesday as both men's and women's teams play a doubleheader against Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas.  Game time for women's game set for 6:00 p.m. while the men's game is slated to tip-off at 8:00 p.m.

Darius Gibson led the Cougars with twenty-seven points and eight rebounds.  Isaac Williams, who dropped thirty the previous night, scored all his ten points in the second half.  Raheem Johnson put up twelve points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots despite only playing sixteen minutes for the second straight night due to foul trouble.  Tyler Corley led with four assists while Gibson and Josh Burdine tied for team honors with three steals.

Mike Martin's 5-of-8 shooting behind the arc led the Red Ravens with twenty four points.  Earl Peterson added twenty while Carl Crawford finished with eleven while leading Coffeyville with seven rebounds.

Photo:  Barton's Darius Gibson drives down the lane in first half action Saturday vs Coffeyville Community College.